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Energy Tomorrow is brought to you by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America's oil and natural gas industry. Our more than 500 corporate members, from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents, come from all segments of the industry. They are producers, refiners, suppliers, pipeline operators and marine transporters, as well as service and supply companies that support all segments of the industry.

Wall Street Journal (Jason Bordoff): It’s a whole new oil world for the U.S.

After decades of declining domestic oil production, the country is in the middle of an unexpected boom. Driven by new technology that reaches previously inaccessible reserves, production has soared by millions of barrels a day. This surge has been a key factor driving oil prices down.

So, should U.S. oil companies be allowed to sell that oil overseas?

Because of a restriction dating back to the oil scares of the 1970s, producers for the most part can’t export their oil. The export ban was part of a series of laws passed to ease supply concerns and prevent U.S. producers from skirting price controls by selling crude into the world market at higher prices.

Tapping the energy resources off America’s coasts could improve our economy, our energy security and create thousands of jobs. Two new studies highlight the remarkable boost to job creation, U.S. energy security, domestic investment, and revenue to the government that lies within the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

API’s Group Director Erik Milito and the National Ocean Industries Association’s Randall Luthi outlined the studies for reporters during a conference call today. Milito:

“The oil and natural gas industry is a rare bright spot in our economy, and the ability to safely develop new offshore resources is critical to America’s continued energy security and job growth.”

WYTV (ABC, Ohio): The Utica Shale Academy, located inside Southern Local Schools, held a special demonstration Tuesday for students and board members.

Austin Sadler, 17, is the only senior in the academy. He hasn’t wasted any time obtaining three certifications needed to get a job in the oil and gas industry after graduation.

Sadler said he has learned how to case a well, install pipe and tubing and understands how gas and oil is extracted from the ground. The first certification he received was for safety, called the Rig Pass.

“It allows me to be safely on any rig. I can be on a rig and know what I am doing and what not to do,” Sadler said.

Ahead of the Senate’s vote this evening on legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline project, the 1,779 mile oil pipeline project has dominated energy news today. While the Senate floor continues to see debate, and the vote looks very close, here’s what we’re reading:

Bipartisanship was the unifying theme from lawmakers and panelists during an event on the intersection of energy and policy earlier today, hosted by The Hill. With the midterm elections over, it’s clear “energy ultimately prevailed,” API President and CEO Jack Gerard said, starting the discussion of what the future holds for energy in the next Congress. Gerard:

“Energy should not be a partisan issue, and while the election played out in a Republican/Democrat-type dynamic, ultimately we believe energy prevailed. Energy was a key issue in a lot of races across the country and it’s clear the American public is growing in their support of energy, especially oil and natural gas.”

Indeed, the U.S. – and the 114th Congress -- has a unique energy opportunity. When looking back even just five or six years ago, no one predicted America’s energy revolution after decades of energy scarcity. Fast-forward to today: We live in an era of rich abundance and ample oil and natural gas resources. America is now in a position to become the world’s energy superpower thanks to industry technology and innovation.

Forbes: The return of the U.S. as an energy superpower will not be a short-term event with the economic benefits likely to last “at least two generations”, according to the latest research from Citi.

That is one of the key findings in a report from the commodities team at the New York-based bank.

Titled “Energy 2020 Out of America” the 96-page document paints a picture of significant change flowing from increased oil and gas production in the U.S. including a dramatic reduction in the country’s current account deficit and a sharp increase in the value of the dollar.

Wall Street Journal: Next year’s GOP-controlled Senate is expected to come out strongly against President Barack Obama ’s most consequential energy and environment policies, with the likely majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, vowing to hold votes on the Keystone XL pipeline and legislation to pare back the administration’s proposed carbon emissions rules.

It is an open question how much headway Republicans can make, given the Senate’s 60-vote procedural threshold and the threat of a presidential veto. But centrist Democrats with home-state energy interests could align with Republicans to create bipartisan majorities on bills that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) didn’t want to bring to the floor, including approving the Keystone XL pipeline, curtailing Environmental Protection Agency rules to cut carbon emissions and expediting federal reviews of natural-gas exports. The votes would put senators on the record in a way Mr. Reid often avoided.

Forbes (Alex Epstein): Six years ago, a sure path for a politician to get praise—and votes—was to call for massive restrictions on fossil fuel use.

In 2008, Barack Obama campaigned on a platform of ending “the tyranny of oil” and bankrupting coal companies, whose energy production would be replaced by promising green companies likeSolyndra—a “true engine of economic growth” that was “leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” An imminent “Peak Oil” disaster was viewed as a certainty.

Democrats ran successfully on a platform of cap and trade, bolstered by the apocalyptic and unchallenged predictions of movies and media like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.

Things have certainly changed. Today, Democrats in contentious races are not only lessening their opposition to fossil fuels, they are competing to take positions that are more pro-fossil fuels than Republicans.

The Hill (Jack Gerard): With zero precincts reporting, we can confidently project American energy is a landslide winner in the 2014 midterm elections.

In many races, both Republican and Democratic candidates have gone out of their way this year to embrace pro-energy policies – to the point that it’s been almost impossible to tell who’s wearing red or blue on the campaign trail.

“When I disagree with the president, I stand up to him. Whether it is on oil or support for the Keystone XL pipeline.” That’s Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner. In North Carolina’s Senate race, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan made a point of saying “I disagree with the president. I think we need to build the Keystone pipeline.” That’s one thing she has in common with her Republican opponent, Thom Tillis, who states, “I strongly support the construction of the Keystone pipeline and favor expanding offshore drilling to make our nation less dependent on foreign oil.

Reuters: U.S. chocolate demand may get an extra boost from an unlikely source this Halloween: the U.S. shale revolution.

With an abundance of crude oil due to the country's fracking boom pushing average U.S. retail gasoline prices to their lowest in four years, consumers have spare change to buy sweets at gas station stores, Hershey President and Chief Executive Officer John Bilbrey said on Wednesday.

"You could say that we benefit because people aren't spending as much at the pump and they're going inside," Bilbrey said in a conference call with investors to discuss quarterly earnings.

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Energy Tomorrow is a project of the American Petroleum Institute – the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry – speaking for the industry to the public, Congress and the Executive Branch, state governments and the media.